[Meanwhile, Luke enters the store! It's bright. That's because the lights are on. He's immediately hit by an odd, musty, distinctly Chinese smell (though he's not sure what it is; likely a combination of things). Now that he's in, he sees that the aisles are very narrow, the store also features a few food items, such as candy and jerky, and there are a few fishtanks (which probably contributes to the smell, too).] [Also, a phone on the counter. In case of emergency.] "Have you found anything yet?" [Sunny lets the door close and shakes her head. Tabby sighs and follows it up with a verbal answer, "There are a lot of things back here, but they're all what I saw before. We still don't know why he's gone."] "What was he showing you before he disappeared?" [Tabby shrugs. "Everything. I think he wanted to sell me something. He even shoved an animal... thing... in my lap." Annoyance flickers across Sun-Niang's face, but it's just a flicker before it changes back to something like depression.] * Luke has a look around, seeing if anything magical is present. [Luke notices Christy peeking through the window. As does Tabby, as she looks in her direction. "Isn't that... Christy?" This gets Sunny's attention, and she's looking, too.] [As for things of the more occult nature, Luke spots some potions and charms that at a glance look likely to be the real deal, not to mention select pieces of jewelry, and a couple of figurines in that glass case.] * Luke seems mildly surprised at the sudden appearance of Christy. "Maybe she wants a jade dragon figurine for a price you can't beat? [Also, now that he's looking for it, he identifies the musty smell consisting at least partway of some less common spell components (you don't find those in the bathroom).] (Anything for the spell or demon summoning?) [Christy ducks under the window!] "I take it she's not a regular customer?" (Pretty likely. Luke's probably sure that a better look at whatever it is will identify it one way or the other.) [Sun-Niang blinks. "No."] * Luke makes a "hm" noise. "Perhaps you should find out what she wants?" he suggests in a cheerful, offhand manner. He looks around the shop again, clearly not feeling overly concerned about Christy's surveillance. [Tabby shakes her head. "She's so strange," she says quietly, as Sunny goes to unlock and open the door.] (Forgot to add this part, but every time Sunny opens that door, there's a little bell that rings.) (And an angel gets its wings.) * Luke wanders through the store, looking for the spell components he can smell. [Wandering through the aisles eventually brings Luke to a section of herbs and dried flowers. They're carefully separated in little wooden containers; one of them is labeled as lotus. This is *definitely* the source of a lot of the smell, and it smells pretty bad.] * Luke scans the labels. [Kinda weird that lotus smells bad, but oh well. He finds some common medicinal herbs, some common herbs for spells, and finds one with a sort of sharp scent to it. It looks like a sort of basil and is labeled "tulsi": this is what he was looking for, as it's used as a component to make that talisman.] * Luke makes a "hm" noise. [Veronica and Christy enter the store, and Sunny closes the door! It looks and smells like what was in the other channel; I'm not repeating myself. Tabby's still by the door to the back, and Luke's bent over, partially obscured by plants and fish and candy, looking at something on one of the shelves.] * Veronica walks into the store quietly, glancing Luke's way. She makes no attempt to hide that he's the reason she's here, though maybe Luke's obscured enough (or busy enough) not to notice. "Were you expecting him?" She says quietly to Sunny. [She nods. "It was Tabby's fault." Tabby shrugs.] * Luke walks toward Tabby, then glances over at Veronica and Christy. "Are you stalking me?" he asks, "Or just casing the joint?" ["Both!" Christy chirps. "But you got us before we could plan the perfect getaway."] "I must warn you that crime does not pay," Luke says mock solemnly to Christy. * Veronica stuffs her hands in her jeans further. "Yeah. What gives, Mister Mendel? I didn't think you to be the type to fancy this sorta stuff." By the way, I don't appreciate the term "casing the joint." We're not thugs. Or have you not checked up on our permanent record yet? * Veronica emphasizes the "yet" just slightly. "Your friend was crouched behind that window and ducked out of sight when she was spotted," Luke says casually. "And Tabby asked me to stop by this evening." ["It's because I was spotted!" Christy cries. "Of course I ducked. That's the first thing anyone wants to do when they're spotted."] Because we figured that if we were caught, you wouldn't tell us why you were *really* here, Mister Mendel. * Veronica glances sideways at Luke. "Is that true?" (Is what true? Are those in the proper order?) (Is it true that he wouldn't tell them why he's really there.) "Tabby asked me to stop by. The reason for that is, I'm afraid, Tabby and Sun's business." Yeah yeah. Okay, I can tell when I'm not wanted. * Luke shrugs. "That's Sun and Tabby's decision to make." * Luke turns and moves past Tabby, into the back room. * Veronica glances at Sunny first, then Tabby. [They sort of blink back. Sun asks, "What?" while Tabby moves aside to let Luke in.] [The back room's more dimly lit, not by florescent lighting, but paper lanterns strung about. It's... a bit of a mess. Well, okay, it's really a mess. There are shelves and a desk and so on, but it's obvious contents back there have been overturned, and a number of trinkets lie in one pile or another.] [There are a few crystal balls, ivory bangles, even *more* things that may be used in this spell or that, a bunch of bound scrolls and books piled in a corner, and just junk.] * Veronica folds her arms across her chest. "Well, I was just curious why you'd invite him over like this. Since he's being annoyingly evasive and all." "Does this room always look like a tornado went through it?" ["It was a little like a tornado when we came in, but it's worse now," Tabby admits.] ["I'll clean it up before I go." She sounds like she means it, even though it's obvious it may take ages.] "What did you do in here?" [Sun looks over at Tabby, but she's talking to Luke. So she looks back at Veronica and takes a deep breath. "My uncle's gone."] * Veronica blinks. "Gone? Just, um, gone?" [Tabby shrugs. "We just looked through things. Even under the cases."] [Sun-Niang nods, looking away. "Tabby was the last person who saw him."] Yeah. But that still doesn't explain why *him*. I mean, wouldn't it make sense to hire a private investigator or something? "Did you find anything?" [Sun-Niang hesitates, then says, "It was her idea."] [Tabby shakes her head at Luke. "Not really. We found a few books and things Sunny hasn't seen before, but nothing that would indicate where Mr. Shi went."] * Luke scans this room for occult artifacts and such as well. * Veronica looks over at Tabby. "Really." She sighs and looks at Sunny. "Is there anything I can do to help?" [Sunny shrugs. "I dunno. Help us look for clues?" She smiles weakly. "It's like a party."] Yeah, only everyone's not invited. * Veronica smirks and walks towards the back. "Hey. Ya find anything, Mister Mendel?" ["There's a good idea!" Christy says. "Next time I have a party, I'll invite the whole *world*!"] You'd burn the whole world before that'd happen, Christy. (Christy is so the morale booster of the group.) "Nothing that sheds light on the disappearance of Sun's uncle." (Hey, Luke is a morale booster. Of sorts. Sometimes.) Anything that sheds light on something else? [Just about everything Luke sees in that room can be linked to the occult. Well. Except the furniture and the paper lanterns. Maybe. Seems Mr. Shi was a bit of a collector.] * Veronica starts looking through the room. "By the way, Mister Mendel, does this count as extra credit?" "Not unless you can write up an essay on the experience that ties it in to Hamlet." What if I find a skull? ["Dude, I think I saw a skull back there!" Christy heads into the aisles of store proper to hunt it down.] "Then you'll have gotten an early start on Christmas this year." Funny. I don't think any of my friends and family are headhunters. * Veronica keeps sifting. "That's what makes it perfect. You know they won't already have one." * Luke looks for clues, whatever clues may be. [You... don't find anything out of the ordinary. Well, beyond what you already saw.] (Luke's not meant to be an investigator either.) (Does Luke see anything occult that would be helpful to the making of that summoning thingie?) [Tabby and Sunny are poking around, too; actually, Tabby's poking and Sunny's sitting by the scrolls and books, looking at the titles.] (Not back here.) * Veronica sighs. "We're never gonna find anything in this mess." [Christy walks in, carrying a plastic skull triumphantly! There's a topknot on it and a little gold Made in China sticker. "Found it!"] * Luke heads over to the books, but stops when Christy says that. * Veronica just stares at Christy and replies calmly. "Christy. Put that back, please." [She sighs. "There goes my extra credit." She vanishes back into store proper.] * Luke continues to the books and has a look at what's on offer. [Sunny looks up curiously as Luke approaches, but she moves to one side so he can gain access. They're all in Chinese, and not the simplified characters, either.] "Can you tell if any of these are missing?" [She shakes her head. "Uncle never let me look through his books like this." She pushes one aside to the one beneath and picks it up, and she starts flipping through it, right to left. "I mean, a few, but... It's kind of weird. I always wanted to, but I didn't like this."] [Session End.]